Abstract

COSTA, Simone Alves Araujo; MIOTTO, Eliane Correa; LUCIA, Mara Cristina Souza de  and  SCAFF, Milberto. Physical activity, aging and performance on verbal fluency testing in the animals category. Psicol. hosp. (São Paulo) [online]. 2013, vol.11, n.1, pp. 88-102. ISSN 2175-3547.

Cognition in the elderly is characterized by a natural and gradual decline in its various functions. Several studies have shown that regular physical activity can help to slow the loss. The objective of this study has been to evaluate the performance of healthy, elderly subjects engaged in regular physical activity as a measure of executive function through verbal fluency testing, category of animals. To this end, 14 subjects between the ages of 60 and 85, and having 1 to 4 years of schooling, were assessed by a battery of screening tests, i.e., MMSE, HAD, a test of general cognition - WAIS-III, a semi-directed interview and testing verbal fluency. Subjects engaged in physical activity showed the best performance measure of executive function compared with the proposed standards for our population. This result is consistent with other findings that show a positive effect of physical activity on cognitive functioning in healthy elderly subjects.

Keywords : Executive function; Physical activity; Education; Elderly.

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